HOCKEY

HOCKEY; Rookie Is Rewarding the Rangers for Their Faith in Him

By JASON DIAMOS

Published: November 23, 2001

''When my career is over,'' Mikael Samuelsson was saying Tuesday night amid a throng of reporters that he was surely not accustomed to, ''I can look back and say that it was Patrick Roy I scored my first goal against. And that's pretty cool.''

Samuelsson can say the same about his second career goal. Samuelsson, a 24-year-old rookie right wing, scored both of them against Roy, a future Hall of Fame goaltender, to snap Roy's shutout streak at three games and help lead the Rangers to a surprisingly easy 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden. The victory was the eighth in nine games for the Rangers, who face Jaromir Jagr and the Washington Capitals in Washington tonight.

Tuesday's game was a sort of coming-out party for Samuelsson, whom the Rangers obtained from the San Jose Sharks on June 24 in the trade for Adam Graves, one of the most popular players in franchise history.

Samuelsson, a native of Sweden, began the season in the minor leagues after an undistinguished training camp. After Tuesday's victory, Rangers Coach Ron Low said that Samuelsson had told Low he was nervous during camp.

''I had heard a lot of good things about him from the beginning,'' Low said. ''But in training camp, when he was here, he did very few of the things he is doing right now.''

When Samuelsson was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Nov. 5, Low spoke to him about his performance in training camp. ''He said he was so nervous and not trying to make mistakes that he didn't want to handle the puck,'' Low said.

Samuelsson said: ''Of course I was nervous. I was traded for Adam Graves. I felt a little pressure.''

During the eight-game stint with Hartford, Samuelsson scored three goals and had six assists. It seems to have settled him down.

Samuelsson, 24, who played for Kentucky of the A.H.L. last season, said he was disappointed when he found himself back in the A.H.L. after training camp. ''It was so boring to go down,'' he said.

But it his performance for Kentucky that impressed the Rangers' scouts. In his first pro season in North America, Samuelsson finished seventh in A.H.L. scoring with 32 goals and 46 assists for 78 points in 66 games.

In eight games with the Rangers, he has a plus-minus rating of plus-seven and has not had a minus rating in any game.

Upon recalling Samuelsson, Low inserted him on the Rangers' penalty-killing unit. Low also put Samuelsson on a line with center Petr Nedved and left wing Andreas Johansson, who is also from Sweden. Low formed the combination on Nov. 10 in Buffalo, giving the Rangers a new third line. It has clicked and given the Rangers more balance among their forward lines.

But though Johansson once scored 21 goals, for the Ottawa Senators in 1998-99, he and Samuelsson will probably not make Nedved forget his former wings Radek Dvorak and the departed Jan Hlavac, who was traded to Philadelphia. With Dvorak and Hlavac, Nedved could improvise on the ice. Nedved's new linemates play a more blue-collar style.

''That was the one big thing about him down in the American League,'' Low said of Samuelsson. ''He played a hard, physical game. And he's not afraid to throw the body at all. He does take the body and he's had a couple of good scoring chances because of it.''

Johansson said he and Samuelsson work hard because neither player is very big. Samuelsson is 6 feet 2 inches and 205 pounds while Johansson is 6 feet and 205 pounds.

''And we talk about when we play, taking the body and making sure we're good in our own end,'' Johansson said. ''The offense will take care of itself.''

It did on Tuesday night, a night Samuelsson will surely remember.

Photo: Mikael Samuelsson celebrating one of his two goals against Colorado's Patrick Roy on Tuesday. They were his first two goals in the N.H.L. (Associated Press)